Dinner Quickie: Nine Dishes is back in Richmond BC

The cult favourite Nine Dishes is back! Their former location on Kingsway in Vancouver closed down in February 2015 (I think) and was a favourite among those with an adventurous attitude towards dining. I went to the new location with a group of longtime Chowhound members to see if the magic was still there. Will it be a case of “Nein Dishes” at Nine Dishes? Will it hit the mark or will it be chabuduo (close enough)?

“1029 Ninedishes Cafe” is located in a big house on Beckwith Road, behind the Costco on Bridgeport and Great Canadian Way (Garden City Road).

It’s still unclear to me whether this place functions as Nine Dishes all the time, or if 1029 Cafe still operates during the day.

The sign would suggest that you can still get cafe-type stuff during the day and have the Nine Dishes menu of drinking food at night.

I love the random nail sticking out of the door jamb.

View of the Nine Dishes building from behind. There’s a parking lot in the back:

I like that this place is further away from the parking hell of No. 3 Road.

Keep it clean! And don’t accidentally burn this whole fucking building down!

View of the dining area with tables set up right up against the bar, which I find really odd. There’s lots of quirky touches here…like the original designer thought that style is good, so why not cram as many competing styles all into one space? Exterior brick used as an interior element? Why not?

It would appear that there’s also a karaoke/music setup too, which two screens to watch the the grating, hyperactive club music being played over the sound system.

Here’s the menu, which other Chowhounders tell me is the same menu as before, complete with $2 beers:

Spicy dishes are designated by the red numbers. So there’s actually plenty to eat here for people who can’t do spicy food. In fact, even though several of our dishes were spicy, even a capsaicin-allergic guy like me could handle it.

Whoa, didn’t expect to see Chimay Blue here! Cheap $2 beer is still available. And that drunk-mom Moscato is available too 😀

FYI.

I’ve never tried this beer. Not in any rush. Maybe it’s my untrusting self, but I don’t trust Chinese beer…

Belgian beer, on the other hand, has a firm place in my heart.

Chimay Blue (9%) is a Belgian strong dark ale. With its rich, malty, dark stone fruit, and Christmas spice flavours, it’s not exactly a great match for spicy northern Chinese food. But being able to get this kind of beer in this kind of restaurant is a mini-triumph. The sweet malt does help cut the heat a bit though.

#116 – Szechuan Sausage ($6.99). I initially thought it was like a chunky lap cheong but it’s actually a different animal. Literally. It tastes like there’s different animals and animal parts (including chunks of fat) shoved into this rustic, flavourful, dried sausage that has a bit of that numbing (ma) sichuan peppercorn thing going on too, which I love. If you don’t already have a beer ready by the time this dish hits the table, you don’t know how to eat.

$106 – Fried Broad Bean ($4.99). I grew up eating the unshelled broad beans from the package, but I was surprised that these fried broad beans had an airy, crispy texture to them (presumably from the frying). Intriguing and I would definitely order again.

Ground pork layered inside. This as a whole came off as a bit underseasoned, though texturally interesting to eat. Would order again to see if there’s a consistency issue.

#582 – ?????? ($9.99). This was a bit of a mystery dish that we took a chance ordering. It’s only listed in Chinese on the menu, but it’s #582 if you’re interested. It’s ground pork with preserved vegetables, served with rice. This dish would be a knockout if it wasn’t for the mushy rice. But the flavour of the meat and pickles really won me over. Quite salty (so eat lots of rice) and moderately spicy (if you eat those dried chilies). I hope they don’t always serve the rice like that.

A few moments later, the chef comes out and scoops out most of the chilies. I guess they want it hot, but not too hot! 😀

Sunken in the liquid are slices of fish (might be basa or sole) and soybean sprouts. I’ve actually never had this dish before. It’s quite salty, but apparently it’s supposed to be salty so that it makes you drink more beer. The fish meat was flaky and silky, and the spice level I’d consider a medium at most, if you avoid the dried chilies. Not a favourite but I’m willing to try again to learn more about this dish.

#515 – Xian Style Spicy Noodle ($7.99).

I found this dish to be a bit underseasoned. The noodles were firm enough but some people at the table wanted them more chewy and al dente. Ok but far from perfect.

Can’t remember what this soup was and which dish it came with!

#501 – Beijing Style Stir Fry Flour Ball with Veggies ($7.99).

This dish looks like giant corn kernels but it’s actually chewy little dumplings with ground pork and mixed veg. Really enjoyable! Savoury with a bit of sweetness from the corn, green beans, and peas. I’d get this again.

#512 – Fried Chinese Chives Pork Dumplings ($9.99).

Some good lacing there!

These didn’t come with any dipping sauce, but they tasted flavourful enough on their own. Moist filling, chewy skin. Good.

Since I was sitting with some longtime Nine Dishes customers, the owner (the bald guy) chatted with us a bit and brought out some complimentary lamb skewers ($2.50 each). Gristly, cooked medium/medium-well, they’re tasty enough…but I’m sure there’s better lamb skewers out there. Good with a beer on the side, of course.

Hope to visit again cuz I felt like this first visit just scratched the surface. It’s been a while since I tasted that whole spicy/numbing mala thing, and it’s like it was a tickle that became a full-blown itch that I desperately need to scratch. Boy do I want to scratch it.

5 thoughts on “Dinner Quickie: Nine Dishes is back in Richmond BC”

Glad you enjoyed 9D v. 2! The menu is actually quite different than the old place, and I understand has even changed since last week. That being said, a number of old favourites were in evidence. The water-boiled fish was oversalted for me, and much more highly seasoned than If’s old version. I’m a bit of a fanatic for that dish and I would say you can do better, though it is tricky to find a really outstanding example. He is open for lunch, so we’ll likely check out the daytime feel pretty soon and let you know.

Ah, ok! Thanks grayelf. I had quickly scrolled through their old 2015 website (http://ninedishes.com/) and saw the same dishes and prices as the current menu and assumed it was the same 🙁 Thanks for all the intel as usual!

BTW, the rice at the original 9D was always a bit less than optimal, shall we say, but it was AYCE-serve-yourself so kind of hard to complain and easy to avoid. A different story when it is being served as part of a dish…

Just posted your thread to Chowhound BC/Van, alerting Grayelf to it, only to see her already here, LOL.

GE did we go to the old 9 Dishes with you or with other CH-ers ? Can’t recall now, must have been at least 5 years ago ! But Dennis, IIRC 9 Dishes on Kingsway closed earlier than 2015 ….. I drive by there often but I could be wrong on the date.

Is it still “Yves” running the show ? I seem to recall he went to work (for another resto) somewhere in Burnaby or Coquitlam ? Again, I’m fuzzy on that.

2 days agoby dennisthefoodieS H R I N K A G E // No shrinkage here with @backcountrybrewing 's impressive 3.4% #IndiaSessionAle#IWasInThePool ! You get most of the juicy goodness of a full-on #hazyipa but with half the alcohol! The finish is understandably lighter and waterier but for the style it's quite an accomplishment. #craftbeer#backcountrybrewing#yvr#vancouver // You might've noticed way less beer posts lately. I've stopped drinking alcohol on most weekdays, so cut down my consumption by half. Feels good but my beer fridge is bursting at the seams. Strictly cream of the crop from now on (hopefully).

2 days agoby dennisthefoodieC A U L I F L O W E R // Wicca whipped up a #ChickenCurry with #RoastedCauliflower for #dinner . The extra roasting step is so worth it! She also threw in mushrooms, sweet potato, tomatoes, and carrots. We've been using Megachef blue label fish sauce for cooking lately and it's great — a bit bolder and saltier than Red Boat. (We still love Red Boat for making nuoc cham though!) The Megachef has great depth, which you can tell by tasting side-by-side with cheap fish sauce, which tastes mostly like salt and stank. #curry#yvr#vancouver

2 days agoby dennisthefoodieS W E E T ' N S W E E T P O R K // Some good #Korean#SweetAndSourPork ($18) with crunchy rice flour batter at @andamiro_korean_bistro . Like Chinese S&S pork, this Korean version is still plenty sweet and good but you have to be in the mood. Swipe to see the royal flourish of omelette strips on their Royal Beef Japchae ($16) and decent Bulgogi Stew ($12). Good value and service at one of the few Korean restaurants in Vancouver proper. They gotta do something about the smell of gas though. It's not the mercaptan (rotten eggs)

2 days agoby dennisthefoodieC H E E S E ' N C H I C K E N // Some good/decent #Korean eats this past weekend with @michelle_wsy . (Great seeing you and the family! Thanks for the exclusive American Spam!) I finally got to try a Korean bbq dish with melty cheese in it: #ChickenBulgogi ($13) with #cheese (+$3). Amusing but not particularly delicious. Watery bland cheese hardens fast. The restaurant @andamiro_korean_bistro is in a convenient location (for us), has good value and prompt service, with decent food that does the job. Quick review of this place now posted on my blog. #andamiro

2 days agoby dennisthefoodieO U T O F S E A S O N // No kidding, #uni is totally out of season right now, but that didn't stop me from trying these dirt cheap big unis (3 for $10) from Steveston. After all the work of cutting these guys open and cleaning the #seaurchin gonads, the result tasted watery with none of the silky richness that uni has from October to March. Lesson learned! (Actually I already knew this going in, but I had to test the theory for myself .) #yvr#vancouver#sashimi